You can also hire a plumber to get the cost-saving advice you need. If you're interested in buying a new home or property, it's smart to hire a contractor or a plumbing service to not only tell you if the building's foundation is sound, but also if the pipes are in good working order. You wouldn't want to purchase a new house and repair the damage someone else did to the property. This is why many plumbers also offer consultancy work to check a facility's water and gas systems and advise home and building owners on best practices they can perform to minimize damage to their pipes.

When a person has a blockage in their sewage system they often try to fix it themselves by adding an acid or a base such as Drano in an attempt to dissolve or dislodge the problem. These chemicals can get into the plumbers eyes [14]when the sewage is splashed during the repair. The plumbers skin during the repair does come into contact with the sewage water.[15] The owner of the toilet might not report to the plumber they have already tried Drano a highly caustic base .

The word "plumber" dates from the Roman Empire.[3] The Latin for lead is plumbum. Roman roofs used lead in conduits and drain pipes[4] and some were also covered with lead, lead was also used for piping and for making baths.[5] In medieval times anyone who worked with lead was referred to as a plumber as can be seen from an extract of workmen fixing a roof in Westminster Palace and were referred to as plumbers "To Gilbert de Westminster, plumber, working about the roof of the pantry of the little hall, covering it with lead, and about various defects in the roof of the little hall".[6] Thus a person with expertise in working with lead was first known as a Plumbarius which was later shortened to plumber.